Aurubis investing € 40 million in more independent and efficient production in Lünen 

Aurubis is kicking off construction on an air separation unit (ASU) at its recycling site in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. With this additional investment of around € 40 million in the site, Aurubis is making in-house production more efficient and independent of external supplies. The ASU represents a tried-and-true technology at Aurubis, where air separation units are already in operation at other large sites, such as in Hamburg (Germany) and Pirdop (Bulgaria).  

The planned unit on the Lünen plant premises will make a key contribution to local production processes. It will separate air into its main components, primarily oxygen (O2) and nitrogen (N2), two elements that play a central part in copper production. The new separation unit will enable Aurubis to independently generate both directly on site in the future. This has several advantages: For one, the oxygen from the unit will be of higher quality than the gases that are currently being delivered. Aurubis will generate nearly 100 % pure oxygen in the ASU, so less oxygen will be required to produce the same copper volume in the future.  

Furthermore, captive oxygen production means the site can completely dispense with externally delivered liquid oxygen in large tanks, eliminating up to 3,000 truck deliveries per year and energy-intensive reconversion into gas. Above all, this means less traffic and fewer emissions in the region. With the new ASU, Aurubis will be able to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 8,500 tons (Scope 3) a year. This is roughly equivalent to the yearly CO2 emissions of 1,800 German households. 

Aurubis expanding Germany as a recycling hub 

“As one of the largest multimetal recycling sites in Europe, Aurubis Lünen is a cornerstone of the circular economy. Building our own air separation unit further secures our long-established site in North Rhine-Westphalia and strengthens our core business. We will continue producing recycled metals in Lünen in the future, metals that are of crucial importance for the energy transition and for industry in Germany and Europe,” COO Multimetal Recycling Inge Hofkens said. 

I’m pleased that we’ll soon have our own air separation unit here on the Lünen plant premises. We’ve had good experience with it in the production process at other sites,” Aurubis Lünen Plant Manager Verena von Weiss said. “By producing oxygen and nitrogen directly on site, we can avoid future price fluctuations and possible delivery bottlenecks of these gases from external partners starting in 2026, making our production more reliable and efficient.” 

Messer Industriegase GmbH, a company specialized in these types of air separation units, will begin planning and construction in the fourth quarter and completion is scheduled for the end of 2025.